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Tag Archive | Goodnight Moon

I really do love making lists. Lately I’ve been so tickled to share picture book recommendations with friends that I got the idea to compile a list of my all-time favorites. This list could go on forever, so let’s see if I can limit the number to fifty—for now. It should be noted that I haven’t included any Dr. Seuss books here, as the Doc really deserves his own list. Also not listed here is Winnie-the-Pooh, which falls somewhere in between picture books, chapter books, and middle grade, but just know that no matter what, Winnie-the-Pooh is always on the top of my list.

I do so deeply love picture books, and not just because I write them. I love them because they introduce human minds to the concept of reading. How weighty is that? I love them because they are a perfect marriage of the written word and visual art. We don’t get that enough in the “adult” world. Much of the art you’ll find in picture books is daring and experimental. I love them because when you condense storytelling into such short form, you often can’t help but end up with myth and fable. To read a brilliant new picture book is to witness a fairy tale being born. It’s exciting.

If you’re wondering about my taste, okay I’ll tell you. I like books that pull on specific strings in the old heart. I like books that make me cry hard, laugh hard, or feel weird inside. It’s like I’ve got these book-shaped holes in my heart and my favorite books are the ones that were meant to fill those holes. I’m not one for lukewarm books. That sounds negative, but I don’t mean it to be. There are plenty of books in the world that are solid from beginning to end and I read them and I didn’t necessarily cry or laugh or question much, but I liked it a whole lot. Knuffle Bunny comes to mind. It’s a great book. It’s charming. It’s lovely. It’s solid. You should read it. I just wouldn’t put it on my fifty list.

Here they are, in some particular order but certainly not in any sort of scientific ranking. My favorite picture books:

The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson illus. Diane Dillon

The Snurtch by Sean Ferrell illus. Charles Santoso

Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming illus. G. Brian Karas

Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds illus. Peter Brown

Orion and the Dark by Emma Yarlett

Nerdy Birdy by Aaron Reynolds illus. Matt Davies

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto illus. Ed Martinez

Old Bear by Kevin Henkes

Tea Rex by Molly Idle

The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch illus. Michael Martchenko

Aberdeen by Stacy Previn

President Taft is Stuck in the Bath by Mac Barnett illus. Chris Van Dusen

Journey, Quest, and Return (Journey Trilogy) by Aaron Becker

The Whisper by Pamela Zagarenski

Teeny Tiny Toady by Jill Esbaum illus. Keika Yamaguchi

Guess Again! by Mac Barnett illus. Adam Rex

Oh goodness there are many more, but I promised to stop at fifty. There are lots of books that I love for specific reasons, e.g. how they address a certain issue, but for this list I tried to stick to my general favorites. What do you think? Any big ones that I missed? What picture books would you add to the list?